Innocence
by Unicorns and Schist
Summary: Innocence was never permanent. Life made sure of that. We all know Nico's met Hestia before tLO. Hestia's thoughts about Nico, while he's growing up. Not HestiaxNico.


**A/N: I know I should be working on _Reminders_, but I couldn't type anything, and this came out. Be thankful, because this is significantly larger.**

**Please review! I want to know whether this was alright.**

**I didn't really like how the ending turned out, but enough talking (typing?).**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Hestia poked the warm flames with a small branch, trying to get them warmer. After a few hours of the same action, she put down the branch and sighed.<p>

She heard a crackle of twigs right behind her. She couldn't help the hope that rose inside her chest. Perhaps, there was finally someone who actually saw her. She brushed the emotion away as she heard the noise decrease, but she was surprised at the strength of the small child that barreled into her.

"Hello! What are you doing? Are the flames that interesting? Do you know Mythomagic? Do you want to play tag? Where did you get the stick? Do you know what the Hunters of Artemis are? Do you want to play with me?" The little demigod jumped up and down in excitement.

Hestia took some time to notice how happy and innocent the child's voice was.

The childish innocence that could be easily wiped away forever.

Hestia sighed sadly. She might not have the 'awesome' powers of Apollo, but she _did _know whether the person in question would have a happy life or not. And this demigod child? Well, he would be put through a series of challenges, each harder than the last. And he would live a miserable life, at least until he became a teenager. Then, his future and feelings got a little fuzzy.

She wished it would never happen, but she knew it was a hopeless dream. Demigods rarely had peaceful and long lives. His face was so hopeful, it almost broke her heart. The poor child would face many more difficulties before he ever came close to finding a home. He would have to grow up at such a young age.

"Why are you sad? Don't you want to play? Am I annoying you? I'm sorry if I am."

Hestia smiled at the concern on the child's face. "I am alright, child."

He accepted the little bit of reassurance with a nod. The little demigod noticed the flickering flames, and marveled at them the way only a child could.

"Oooooh, that fire is preeeeetty. How did you get it so red? It's so COOL!"

Hestia almost grinned at the irony.

Fire was cool.

Ah, childish humor. The best one to have, what with grown ups being so serious these days.

Honestly, Hestia never considered herself to be a grown up. Even though she was the eldest, and had more experience than any of the other Olympians, she was always one to hand over responsibilities. She had always wanted to be a kid, never growing up. She supposed she was different. All of her younger siblings had wanted to grow up as soon as possible. They were always fantasizing about what they were going to do when they got out of their father. Even then, there were disagreements. Zeus and Hades would always have electric fights, which would have been deadly, had they not been gods (puns intended).

Hestia was jolted out of her thoughts by a poke to the knee. She had almost forgotten the little child was here. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I miss anything?"

"No, you just looked like you were thinking too hard." Hestia smiled harder at that.

"I haven't been polite, child. What's your name?"

"Me? Oh, my name is Nico Di Angelo. What's yours? Why do you call me child? Aren't you the same age?"

Hestia grinned. She truly _had_ forgotten how cluelessly comical children were. It had been too long since she had talked to them. She made a solemn vow to talk to them more often, and offer any help they needed. Just because she was a maiden goddess didn't mean she couldn't offer comfort and a home to children. The child - Nico - was looking at her expectantly, so she answered him.

Nico Di Angelo? _Victory_ and _of angels_. Well, looking at him, she could certainly imagine him as an angel. But being an angel, with his future? Hard to believe. The dark bits of his future were very sad. One thing she was sure about though, was that Nico would certainly be the victory of the people. In what way, she did not know. But, he would not get recognized for it, which made it all the more miserable.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Nico Di Angelo. Did you know your full name means _victory of the people,_ and _of angels_? You have a beautiful name. I am Hestia. I call you child because I'm much older than you, and it is what I am used to calling little children."

Nico took a rare quiet moment to digest that information. "That's so COOL! Thank you, I like my name too," Nico gave her an adorably proud smirk, "So you're the goddess of the... hearth? Well, you don't have many attack points, but your defense is pretty good."

He looked at her like that was supposed to be reassuring. Hestia decided to ignore the fact that she understood absolutely none of what he said.

"Thank you."

They sat at the fire, soaking up the warmth for a few moments.

"So, do you know the Hunters of Artemis?"

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask, Nico?"

"It's just that my sister, Bianca, joined them, and now she's going to go on a super dangerous and awesome quest."

Hestia thought she glimpsed a worried expression on his face, before it faded into childish happiness.

"Well, I do know that the Hunters of Artemis will take care of your sister well. Do not worry, she will try to see you as much as she can."

"Oh, I'm not worried." Nico swung his legs from the log he was sitting on. "Percy Jackson promised he would protect Bianca. He'll take care of her." The child looked so confident about the hero's word, it made Hestia almost tear up. She knew at that moment that the certain hero would always be Nico's superhero. She could only hope he'd keep his word. She cleared her throat to stop the sob building up. He looked so oblivious to the fact that he might never see his sister again.

"So, what's your official job at Olympus?"

"Job?"

"Well, yeah, you have something important that you have to do, don't you?"

"Well, I suppose that, in a way, I am the last Olympian. I am the one that keeps it all together, with as minimal fights as possible."

"That. Is. So. AWESOME! That is such a cool job! When you said fights, did you mean even when you were in Kronos' yucky tummy?"

Hestia laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she did. Nico looked pleased to get a response out of her.

"Yes, Nico. I had to be the peacemaker many times when I was in my father's 'yucky tummy', as you so elegantly put it."

And so, she told the curious (and oblivious) child entertaining stories when she was trapped in her father's stomach. "Once, Hades was enraged that Zeus stole his favourite mini figurine..."

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><p>The next time she saw him was not one she wanted to remember. She wanted to curse Aphrodite. Just because she was a maiden didn't mean she couldn't see love when it was staring at her in the face. And Nico? It was as obvious as an ink stain on white paper. He was in love with his hero, and he wished he wasn't.<p>

Hestia was, once again, tending to the same fire with same branch as weeks ago. She was so lost in thoughts about whether Nico was doing alright that she didn't notice the crunch of small twigs.

"This gives me a serious case of déjà vu."

Hestia turned around, like a deer in the headlights.

"Nico?"

"Yes, milady."

He looked as if he'd shrunk instead of grown. She could almost see the bones underneath his black jacket.

"He broke his promise."

Hestia looked down at the ground. She knew exactly what he was talking about. What she'd feared had become true. She patted the space next to her.

"I am very sorry about Bianca."

Nico seated himself next to Hestia. She couldn't help but notice that he was a lot calmer and quieter than before. The before-Nico would have plonked himself on the log, without caring whether he touched Hestia or not. The after-Nico had seated himself rather elegantly, and made sure they had no physical contact. She knew that while he would hate touching, he would want some silent company.

After a few moments, he startled her by saying, "It wasn't your fault. It was his for not saving her, and mine for trusting him, Lady Hestia."

"Don't you dare say that."

Nico looked surprised at her gentle but firm tone. "What? It's true."

"No. It has nothing to do with you. The Fates' decision has nothing to do with yours. It wasn't yours _or _Percy's fault. Bianca was destined to die, and you know that as much as I do. Don't you _dare_ blame yourself." Hestia finished slightly out of breath.

Nico had a tear trailing down his face, while he looked into blank space. They sat there for a few more minutes, before Nico decisively stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Hestia. Unfortunately, I must go. My apologies for coming to you for such a trivial thing." And he blended into the shadows.

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><p>It was then that she realised that Nico was never going to be a little kid any more.<p>

To be honest, it depressed her. A lot.

Yes, it was inevitable that everyone grew up, but did everyone have to go through such horrid things to do so? Evidently not. Of all the demigods she had known, Nico had the worst past, especially at such a young age. Not even the Hero of Olympus, Percy Jackson, could beat Nico in that department. Hestia just didn't find it fair how the childish, innocent Nico that she had liked had turned into a cold person that pushed everyone away. She cursed the Fates many times, but it couldn't bring the before-Nico back.

This was, admittedly, the first time that Hestia had witnessed such a dramatic change in a short amount of time, and it unsettled her. The first time that she had witnessed simple, childish innocence being stolen away by the harsh reality of the world.

Innocence was never permanent. Life made sure of that.


End file.
